Golden and nearby Garden of the Gods had been my last stop in Colorado and the United States in general before crossing over to Colombia. Next to seeing some more beautiful red rock landscapes, I even had a few minutes of Bouldering at night!
The Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado was pretty high on my list due to its unique combination of dunes and mountains. Joined by a local CS and her dog, we spent a freezing cold night high up in the sand.
While Durango is a fairly common tourist destination and busy yet still pleasant town, I also explored the less visited Black Canyon of the Gunnison with some great views and landscapes!
On my way from Utah to Colorado, I was battling a T-Rex in the Dominguez Canyon, staying with 86 year old former racer “Crazy Joe” after a prison ruined my hitch hiking plans and ultimately receiving a lesson about Colorado History in the Escalante Canyon the next day!
Arches National Park was one of the parks I was looking forward to the most, and it did not disappoint! Despite the lack of time, I managed to see nearly everything I wanted in a single day, thanks to my amazing Couchsurfing host 🙂
Utah’s Moab had been high on my list for a while, there is just so much to do there! While I did not have much time for climbing, I did see a lot of off road cruiser action in the Sand Flats Recreation area just next to town. Check out the highlights in this Live Update..
I only ended up in Escalante, Utah, because it became too dark to hitch hike to my final destination. The lady giving me a ride was so nice to offer me her spare house to sleep in and also told me about the Slot canyons in the area, which was perfect news for me after having missed the famous Antelope Slot Canyon. I ended up staying two nights to explore the Zebra, Dry Fork, Peek-A-Boo & Spooky Slot Canyons.
Zion National Park was an obvious stop in Utah, being ranked one of the best Parks in the States. Everything takes places in a beautiful valley and hiking up to the steep slopes of Angel’s Landing was the absolute highlight. We also had a great jam session with some nice people I met on the hike finishing the day 🙂
We had two more stops in Arizona before crossing over into Utah. While Horseshoe Bend was as amazing as it looked on the many pictures I’ve seen before, the Glen Canyon Dam next to the small town of Page was actually a big surprise, offering great views into the deep canyon with it’s green water and dam.
I'm Chris, a travel and guitar addicted German guy, traveling around the world full time.
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